General culture represents a set of valuable information regarding the collective interests of a society, culture, civilization, community or nation. This information is collected from various communication platforms. It is not about specialized or sectoral knowledge. Rather, general culture concerns every single aspect of human life: current events, fashion, family, health, art and science. It takes time and effort to enrich it, but many human traits and skills, such as intelligence, problem solving, confidence, and open-mindedness, are determined by the general knowledge accumulated over the course of one's life. Furthermore, general culture serves to grow as people, to be good citizens and to contribute to the formation of a stronger society.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Read
Step 1. Read a book
Reading is essential for acquiring any kind of general knowledge. There are no specific requirements regarding the books or genres to read because the acquisition of general knowledge includes a wide assortment of topics. For a qualitative and quantitative reading, it is important that this hobby becomes an integral part of one's daily habits.
- Ask for a library card. Membership is generally free and gives you access to thousands of books that you can calmly read before having to return them.
- Go to the flea or flea market. You can stock up on cheap books on a variety of topics that you wouldn't buy otherwise.
- Buy an e-reader to download books and articles at low prices from numerous websites. The gratification will be instant and you will gain new knowledge.
Step 2. Subscribe to a newspaper
Newspapers are excellent sources of local, regional, national and world news. The quality of some is superior to others, but in principle all of them offer up-to-date information (within the limits of reasonable) on politics, sports, fashion, food and many other topics.
- Try to get into the habit of reading the newspaper in the morning. It can be delivered to you before you even wake up, so you will have no excuse not to read it. It will be a valuable source intended for the enrichment of your knowledge.
- Most newspapers also offer online subscriptions at a lower cost. If you prefer to receive information digitally, you should consider the numerous newspapers you have just a click away.
- At the bar and other public places you can find different newspapers and browse them for free. Take advantage of this and enrich your general knowledge while you are out and about for work or in your free time.
Step 3. Browse a magazine
In hypermarkets and newsstands you can find several shelves with various types of magazines on display: try to take a look at them. These publications are widely available and cover a variety of topics. Of course, you don't have to subscribe to a trade magazine or magazine that wouldn't enrich you, but you can find many interesting publications on the market.
- When you go shopping at the hypermarket, stop in front of the magazine shelves. Contrary to what might happen in a small newsstand, no one will look at you badly or invite you to leave the store, even if you have to browse newspapers for half an hour.
- When you go to the doctor, have a dentist appointment or elsewhere, take advantage of all the magazines available in the waiting room. You can usually find general interest weekly or monthly magazines covering current affairs, but also entertainment magazines. Read them while you wait.
Step 4. Read trade magazines carefully
They usually publish longer academic research articles than those in classical journals, not to mention that they are enriched with accurate citations. These publications offer very specific information on certain subjects. Compared to popular books, newspapers and magazines, they are less accessible and more expensive, but have more detailed and scientifically proven information.
- If you prefer the academic nature of these publications, join an association that is dedicated to a subject of your interest, such as history, biology or sociology. These entities fund trade journals and send them to members, who have a great passion for the same field.
- Go to a university library, where you can have access to hundreds of publications on almost any academic subject.
Method 2 of 4: Listen
Step 1. Socialize with friends, colleagues and professionals
If you talk to and interact with a lot of people, you have a better chance of having intelligent and informative conversations that will allow you to gain new knowledge. Since almost everyone enjoys informal, but at the same time informal, dialogues on interesting topics, there is a tendency to store more effectively the knowledge acquired on these occasions.
- Cultivate friendships with intelligent, cultured, and experienced people. They will spark interesting conversations on a wide variety of topics, exposing you to new ideas, perspectives and analysis.
- Try to see these people once a week to discuss what you have learned or to talk about current events over tea or coffee.
Step 2. Buy audiobooks
They should not replace reading, but they allow you to acquire a rather broad general knowledge while you are occupied with other things, such as going to work or doing physical activity. Audio books also help enrich vocabulary, develop a different way to process information, and increase the ability to deepen one's understanding.
- Audio books often include comments made by the author, so they allow you to better understand how the ideas for writing the book were formed or the reasoning behind certain decisions. This information will not only enrich your general knowledge of the book's content, but also the creative process and the writer's thoughts.
- You can buy, rent or borrow audiobooks. Instead of listening to music while traveling or exercising, try replacing it with an audiobook from time to time.
Step 3. Attend a seminar or conference
Listening to the speeches of the experts participating in these events will allow you to enrich your cultural background on a certain topic. Why is it an important experience to do? Participants speak professionally about field-proven methods, approaches and experiments to formulate an analysis that took years of study to bear fruit.
- Even if you're attending a seminar or conference primarily to hear from a professional, be sure to take notes. Listening will help you grasp the information, while writing it will allow you to memorize it.
- Try to grasp the main ideas of the speech. The details are fascinating, but to enrich your cultural background it is more important to understand the basic ideas and concepts that are illustrated.
Step 4. Join a book club or other group
Try to enrich your experiences and your circle of acquaintances by making friends with people with similar interests to yours. Discussing books, current events, history or politics will force you to use your general knowledge concretely and to elaborate new information.
- You can find clubs and organizations in many places, for example online, in the classifieds section of the newspaper or through friends and family.
- Joining a new club or organization allows you to meet people and expand your circle of friends. This will give you more opportunities to learn from people who have different backgrounds and perspectives.
- People tend to read and write about topics they find interesting. Joining a reading club, just to give an example, encourages you to try an activity that you would not usually consider, such as reading a book that is not in your interests.
Method 3 of 4: Using Technology
Step 1. Watch television
It is now one of the most used resources to enrich one's general culture. The content it offers many times is questionable, but there are also several interesting and engaging programs from which you can draw a wealth of information.
- Try to vary the programs you follow to learn about different perspectives. Watch news, public television shows, quizzes, educational programs (such as National Geographic), documentaries, films based on fact, educational programs (such as cooking). All this will help you enrich your general knowledge.
- Watching television is a mostly passive exercise that doesn't require a lot of mental processing. So try to limit the hours you spend in front of the TV.
Step 2. Use search engines
Google, Yahoo, Bing and so on allow you to answer any question within seconds. Use them regularly to learn about news, trends and topics of collective interest.
Many of these search engines offer information on virtually any topic. Not only can you find up-to-date current news, you can also inform yourself about entertainment, fashion, sports and popular trends online
Step 3. Try a service like Google Alert
Several sites that regularly publish up-to-date news and information offer a tracking and reporting service that you can subscribe to. Whenever a news item is published within a category of your interest, a notification will be automatically sent to your computer or mobile phone, so you will always be up to date.
Two of the most popular news sites are Google and Ansa. If you speak English, also try Fox News, BBC and AP News
Step 4. Try online games or programs that will help you test your knowledge
Choose the ones that allow you to acquire new information, rules or strategies. There are many sites that offer crosswords, general knowledge questions and other such tests.
Several websites offer general knowledge quizzes about current events and history. Try to do one a day to test your knowledge
Step 5. Sign up for an online course
With all the free information available on the web, nowadays it is possible to take courses from prestigious universities on the internet at low prices or for free. Several well-known US universities, such as MIT, Harvard and Stanford, provide high-quality lessons on numerous subjects (from philosophy to politics) on MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) platforms. Generally these courses are in English, but little by little Italian universities such as La Sapienza and the University of Naples Federico II are starting to participate.
- More than 10 million people currently take classes on MOOC platforms. By signing up for a course, you will be able to communicate with people from all corners of the globe.
- Taking a MOOC course will allow you to gain up-to-date information on various specializations and give you the opportunity to discover new interests.
- MOOC platforms give you the opportunity to learn about various jobs and interact with professionals from different countries. This will also greatly enrich your cultural background.
Method 4 of 4: Enroll at the university
Step 1. Choose a three-year course of a general nature
Almost all universities offer three-year degree programs that do not focus on developing sectoral skills, but give a smattering of various topics and approaches. The teaching materials incorporate interdisciplinary information, so it is possible to enrich one's general culture and acquire knowledge applicable in various situations of daily life.
- If you decide to enroll at university, then try taking courses in various subjects to broaden your cultural horizons.
- Taking varied courses has been shown to be useful during job interviews, collaborating with colleagues or making a contribution to your community.
Step 2. Join clubs and organizations
At the university you can become a member of several interesting associations. Surrounding yourself with people who have different cultural backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds and various passions will help you open your mind.
- Extracurricular activities enrich and recharge the body and mind. In turn, this spurs you to make new discoveries and broaden your cultural horizons.
- Look for other ways to expand your knowledge by volunteering, planning events, or writing a newsletter. These activities allow you to always be updated and receive useful information.
Step 3. Interact with faculty and staff
The teachers have a lot of experience and know how to help students. During office hours, many university students turn to professors to discuss lectures, term papers or other topics. Imitate them and go to the teachers you want to ask for advice: you will learn more than you imagine.
- Look for semester office hours on the university website or class schedules. You can also find this information on the signs posted on the doors of the teachers' offices in the relevant department.
- If you can't go during office hours, call or email the professor to make an appointment at another time.
